Wednesday, March 29, 2017


Arrowroot Capital Aims To Raise $175M In Third Investment Fund
Santa Monica-based Arrowroot Capital, an investment firm focused on investing growth equity in growing software-as-a-service and internet-based businesses, has launched an effort to raise $175M in its third fund, Arrowroot Capital III, LP. The firm, led by managing director Matthew J. Safaii, has made investments in such companies as 4tell, Agilence, EiQ, Embotics, Evergage, Icix, MedNet, ServiceAide, and ZiftSolutions. The firm's second fund closed at the end of 2015, and was worth $50M. The co (More info...)
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DogVacay Acquired By Rover
Santa Monica-based online pet sitting marketplace DogVacay and Seattle-based competitor Rover said this morning that the two are merging, with Rover acquiring DogVacay in an all-stock deal. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Both Rover and DogVacay provide an online marketplace which allows pet owners to find dog- and cat-sitters. DogVacay was venture backed by Omers Ventures, GSV Capital, Science Inc., Foundation Capital, Benchmark, First Round Capital, DAG Ventures and Sh (More info...)
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UCSD Spinout Antiva Biosciences Gets $22M
Antiva Biosciences, a U.C. San Diego biopharmaceuticals spinout targeting treatments for pre-cancerous lesions caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, said it has raised $22M in a Series C funding. The funding was led by Brace Pharma Capital, an also included NS Investment, Osage University Partners and Alexandria Venture Investments, plus Canaan Partners and Sofinnova Ventures. Vinzenz Ploerer of Brace Pharma has joined the company's board with the new funding. Antiva Biosciences in ba (More info...)
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Babies"R"Us Ties With The Honest Company In Product Partnership
Los Angeles-based, eco-friendly baby products company The Honest Company, and retailer Babies"R"Us are in a a new, in-store partnership, where Babies "R"Us will begin carrying The Honest Company's products at its retail stores. Financial details of the partnership were not announced. Babies "R"Us said it will offer up seasonal print diapers, wipes, gift sets, bibs, lotions, sun care and formula plus homecare items, like detergents and cleaning solutions, later this year. Babies"R"Us said it the (More info...)
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MINDBODY Buys Wellness Technology Startup Lymber
San Luis Obispo-based MINDBODY, the developer of cloud-based business management software for spas and the wellness services industry, has acquired Lymber Wellness, a startup that provides yield management and pricing software for class and appointment-based businesses. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. MINDBODY said that Lymber's software--which is built on MINDBODY's API--will add a dynamic pricing engine to its platform. The technology from Lymber will make it into MINDBO (More info...)
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Blizzard Entertainment Expands Into Collectibles
Irvine-based videogame maker Blizzard Entertainment, the company behind such games as World of Warcraft and Overwatch, has expanded into the physical collectibles market, saying it will start offering up "high end" collectibles to its players. Blizzard said its Blizzard Collectibles will offer up a line of premium statues, replicas, and artwork designed and produced directly by Blizzard. The company's first collectible is a $150 statue of the character Widowmaker, from Overwatch.
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OpenX Expands Exec Team In EMEA
Los Angeles-based programmatic advertising marketplace operator OpenX announced early this morning that it has expanded its leadership team in Europe. OpenX said it has named Dominic Trigg as Vice President, EMEA, and promoted Richard Kidd, Commercial Director, Germany, to the position of Vice President, Head of Business Development, EMEA. Trigg is based in London, and most recently was at Rocket Fuel; he also served at Tradedoubler, Infospace, and Yahoo.
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Qualcomm Sets New CTO
San Diego-based Qualcomm announced today that it Dr. James H. Thompson, the company's Executive Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has been named its Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Current CTO Matt Grob, who also serves as EVP Qualcomm Technologies, will become Executive Vice President of Technology, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Thompson has led Qualcomm Technologies' engineering efforts since 2004. The reason for the executive shuffle was not given by Qualcomm.
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